Glimpse into the Unseen
by bluetroll
Summary: (AU) Kagome is a girl who is always late for class. Inuyasha is just a normal boy. When strange things start happening and Inuyasha saw and tried to pry into things that he wasn't supposed to know, they are all dragged into this mess... {Under Revision}
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Well… This chapter is pretty much about nothing in particular. Its sole purpose is to introduce the main characters, which we already know (DUH!). God, I'm talking gibberish. Anyways, I really don't know much about Japan, so please pardon the inconsistencies in the setting. How I wish to be born in Japan~~~ (sigh) 

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything that belongs to the original work of Inuyasha. Please don't sue…. I'm broke anyway. 

**Chapter 1******

"Oi! Inuyasha! How late do you reckon she'll be this time?" Miroku asked, leaning on the school windowsill and tilting his head backward. Violet eyes vanished for a moment as he closed his eyes to focus his senses on the enjoyable soothing feeling of the warm May sunshine and the slight breeze on his face.

"Don't know. Don't care," replied Inuyasha while switching to his right hand to support his head on the desk. "That girl is always late and skips class all the time. I wonder why she even bothers to come to school at all."

"Hm…True," Miroku rubbed his chin. "But you can't deny the fact that she does quite well on her tests. Remember that she beat you on the math test last week?" He teased.

Inuyasha gave a low growl. "Shut up. That won't happen again."

"Oh, but it happens all the time!" Miroku gleefully reminded him, taking out a mirror at the same time to check on his reflection. He patted his tiny ponytail to make sure that it looked perfect.

"You!" Inuyasha's head snapped up, making a few strands of his long silvery bangs fall into his eyes. He carelessly brushed them away. "Would it kill you to forget that minor detail? You're no better off! Need I remind you of your loosened jaw that 17th time you tried to grope her?"

"At least now I know what every part of her body feels like," Miroku retorted, puffing out his chest and looking proud of his…uncommon knowledge.

Inuyasha looked at him with absolute disgust. "Ew~ you pervert! Tell me again why I've befriended you." He rolled his eyes and sighed in resignation.

"Well, neither of us can really help the fact that we've been neighbours since we were still one of the thousands of sperms swimming to our mothers' eggs and had hung out together since the age of diapers. Come to think of it, we've always been in the same class since kindergarten as well."

"My entire life is cursed." The amber-eyed teen in front of him mumbled.

Miroku pretended not to have heard him and continued, "We are friends because we both admire qualities in the other that we lack; you with your intelligence and I with my charm," he paused when Inuyasha snorted out loud. "Excuse YOU. Anyways, can you deny that fate has brought us together? Oh Inuyasha, say you love me~" He gave him a sappy look.

"Go to hell" was his only response.

"You just shattered my fragile heart to a million pieces, my dear old pal," he put a hand over his heart, looking wounded and shaking his head. "Who would've thought that you're capable of such a thing, gentle as a rabbit you are."

"Gentle!? I'll show you how gentle I am!" The insulted Inuyasha jumped up and encircled his arm around Miroku's head, his right fist drilling at the other teen's black head.

"Ahhh! My beautiful hair!!" Miroku screamed as he freed himself from Inuyasha's murderous grip. He took out his mirror again (along with a comb and gel) and worked feverishly to fix his messed up hairdo.

Inuyasha sat back to his chair triumphantly, smirking. "Serves you right, Miroku. I swear you'll get jumped on one day if you don't watch your mouth."

"Get jumped on? I won't mind so much as long as it's a pretty girl that jumps on me." He grinned mischievously, and then added as a second thought. "No, let that be a girl with a nice figure too."

Inuyasha almost fell off his chair. God! How he wished for a normal friend whose mind doesn't slip to the thought of pretty girls every other second. No, make that every single second. Yet, Miroku had always been a good friend; fun to hang out with, loyal, and occasionally, just occasionally, showed signs of wisdom beyond his age, which was only 17. Anyways, he supposed that he would never find a better friend than Miroku, although he'd die first before admitting this thought to him. _Blame it all on that stupid fate for making us best friends_, he decided.

DING!!! The bell signalling for class to start sounded. Miroku, along with everybody else in the class, returned to his seat, which was to the right of Inuyasha who sat beside the window.

Just as their first period teacher walked in, Miroku leaned over and whispered, "Bet you 500 yen that she will be 20 minutes late."

"Deal. I'll bet for her being 10 minutes late." Inuyasha breathed back.

Miroku nodded in satisfaction and gave him a thumb-up as the geography teacher, Mr. Nonomura, cleared his throat. "Okay class, please keep quiet while I take the attendance. Answer 'Present' when I call your name…"

_Boring!_ Inuyasha rolled his eyes while taking out his notebook and pencil case, waiting to be called.

* * *

_ Tap, tap, tap. _Run, run, RUN! She must run. The girl panted heavily as she continued running, her long, silk-like, black hair freely flowing like a waterfall behind her. Brown eyes dared a glimpse at the nice silver watch that she got for her birthday. _Oh no! I am so dead._ She panicked and sped up, right hand tightly clutching her black schoolbag. _Almost there,_ she thought to herself as she saw her destination approaching. 100m, 50m, 10m, 5m…CLINK! All 34 pairs of eyes, including Mr. Nonomura's, turned as the classroom door was thrust open.

Inuyasha glanced at the clock and mentally swore as he flicked the 500-yen coin into the waiting palm of Miroku's outstretched arm. The dark-haired young man was grinning from ear to ear. He was on a winning streak of 3 consecutive wins over this kind of bet with Inuyasha. Man, is he good or what?

Inuyasha stared sourly at the girl who was muttering apologies to a very irritated geography teacher who was giving her a reproving look and arranging for an after school detention. He wondered why it was that Miroku could usually guess the right time of when she would arrive. _Perhaps,_ he thought evilly gaining a secret pleasure, _it has something to do with the fact that he groped her 17 times._

Meanwhile, Kagome Higurashi, age 17, height 5 foot 3, was for the fifth time this month, officially late for class.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Progressing slowly and painfully… Thank you to those who read my story and those who reviewed (Frozen Lighting, TetsuoTsubushi, & Flashgriffin). I'm deeply honoured.

**Disclaimer:** If I do own Inuyasha, I won't be writing a fanfic here.

**Chapter 2******

"Come on, Kagome. We're going to be late for gym class!" Yuuka urged. She was half-running down the hall, pulling Kagome along.

"Okay," Kagome followed. Then she stopped and looked back. There was something nagging on the edge of her mind, but she couldn't quite grasp what it was. It felt as if… as if she was being watched.

"Kagome~" Yuuka called some distance down the hall.

"Coming!" The girl took a step or two, then stopped dead once again. A thought had crossed her mind. _Could it be…?_ No, it was simply not possible. This sort of thing had never happened before. "Probably just my imagination," she muttered.

Yuuka was getting impatient and tapped her feet. "Kagome you slowpoke, if you don't hurry I am SO gonna leave you behind."

"All right, all right, I'm moving!" Kagome called back. She glanced behind her one last time, shook her head, and ran down the hall to her waiting friend Yuuka.

* * *

It was a beautiful May afternoon. The sun was shining brightly. The sky was cloudless and of a clear blue like that of a refreshing mountain spring. The weather was nice and warm, as the sakura season had just recently ended. All was serene whilst every creature carried out its normal life activities.

Out on the high school field, class 2-A was having gym. The guys were playing baseball while the girls were running the 100m.

Inuyasha was up for bat next. His teammates were cheering him on. He could feel the tension and excitement in the air, because their team had two strikeouts already. Miroku was standing on second base, waiting for the perfect chance to steal. Inuyasha practised swinging as he walked out and moved himself into stance. "Okay, I'm ready when you are."

The ball came at him fast as a bullet and he swung with all his might. _This had better be a homerun,_ he thought to himself.

The ball soared, far and away from the field. Just when everybody, including Inuyasha and Miroku who were running like mad, gave a loud cheer, the ball seemed to have acquired a mind of its own and took an unexpected turn.

"Kagome watch out!!!"

Kagome, having finished her race, who sat by the track chatting amiably with her friends, looked up just in time to see a flying object coming fast and furiously at her and dodged.

The round, white object had dug a hole in the spot where she sat before the moment she had enough strength to gather herself and look up. Her face turned pale.

"Oh my goodness! Are you all right?" Someone helped her up.

'Yeah, I'm fine." Kagome gave her a weak smile.

"Is everything alright? Kagome, are you hurt?" Mr. Toudou, the P.E. teacher, rushed to her side along with the rest of the boys, the baseball game forgotten.

"Yes, yes, I'm quite all right. Nothing broken nor a scrape in sight. I'm perfectly fine." Kagome managed to put on a bright smile and assured every concerned individual.

"Are you sure?" Mr. Toudou asked again, still dubious.

"I'm positive. I'm not hurt, really."

"If you say so…" Mr. Toudou sighed, giving in to Kagome's persistent reassurance. "'Tis most strange, to see Inuyasha's homerun fly and turn at such an odd angle and aim at Kagome. What an unfortunate accident."

"Hey! It's not like I meant for it to happen!" Inuyasha exclaimed, sounding exasperated.

"Oh really?" Yuuka looked at him suspiciously.

"What's your problem, wench? Are you suspecting me for something that I didn't do?" Inuyasha glared at her, amber eyes flaring up.

"That's enough, you two." Mr. Toudou said sternly. "Don't blame Inuyasha for this. Besides, Kagome is not hurt. Anyways, it's time for you guys to pack up your equipments and go get changed."

All the students murmured their agreement and gathered up their stuff. Kagome and Yuuka brought in the stopwatches. Before Kagome enter the building, she turned around and searched the school ground for something, but apparently to no avail. Shaking her head, she trailed in after Yuuka.

"Is she looking accusingly at me?" Inuyasha wondered aloud when he caught and misunderstood Kagome's departing glance. He was most displeased at being "falsely accused" by Yuuka earlier on, and now thought of Kagome with resentment. _How dense is this girl? Does she think I can achieve the impossible by willing the ball to turn around and hit her? Girls are such idiots. _

He fumed within and bent down to pick up his baseball bat. Jut then, a loud shattering of glass followed by the most ear-piercing scream sounded from inside the school building.

Flinging the old wooden bat aside for the second time that day within 15 minutes, Inuyasha sprinted inside to find a terrified Yuuka, a couple of broken windows, a ground littered with shattered glass, and a strangely calm Kagome leaning against the wall, holding a bleeding left arm. He goggled at the scene.

"Please inform the teacher that someone had thought it funny to break the windows and that I've gone to the nurse's office to get my wound treated. Oh, and would you kindly ask the custodian to clear up the mess here? I'm sure it will be most unfortunate if someone accidentally steps on the sharp edges." Contrary to her previous paleness, Kagome seemed unusually unperturbed and collected. Before leaving, she nodded to Inuyasha who gawked with such blankness on his face that one would think he was the one in shock. Or maybe he was.

He was totally, absolutely, supercalifragilisticly confused, dumbfound, and…lost! What in the name of Buddha, Jesus, and any other God was the matter with that girl? Was her shock so sudden that she had not registered what had happened yet? Or was she simply too dimwitted and thick to even realize what could have happened to her? For Christ's sake! Why couldn't she act like that Yuuka who was scared senseless, like a frightened chick, or like… like how a woman was supposed to act!

Ahhh!!! He just couldn't figure her out, like he couldn't figure out Miroku's obsession with pretty girls; like he couldn't figure out his brother Sesshoumaru's unnerving arrogance. One of these days, he swore, he was going to go nuts with all those weirdoes around him. Whatever happened to normal life?

* * *

"Such an eventful day," Inuyasha heaved a sigh as he walked out of the store, grocery bags in one hand. "First I lost a bet because KAGOME had to be 20 minutes late, not 10. Then I didn't get to finish the baseball game because KAGOME had to stand in the way of my homerun. Afterwards, I almost lost my sanity because KAGOME didn't seem slightly bothered by her injury and by the fact that she could've been pierced by a thousand pieces of glass. Damn! Nothing related to Kagome ever comes to any good!" He complained out loud, getting angry with Kagome each passing second for unexplainable reasons.

"See what I mean?" He exclaimed, shaking his fist and waving his grocery bags, oblivious to the odd and sympathetic looks that passers threw him. "The mere thought of her affects my mood for no darn reason!"

After glaring venomously at no one in particular (all the while scaring off a couple of stray dogs and making a few children cry), he sighed again and continued walking home from running errands.

He strolled silently for a few minutes before lifting his head up. That was weird. He was almost sure that he heard an incantation of some sort nearby, but now it was gone. He strained his ears, finally picking up the source of the faint noise.

It came from a shadowed alley to his left.

Curious, Inuyasha approached the dark place just in time to see a figure jumping up high into the air, seemingly to be dodging a kick.

Kagome did a back flip, landing behind the attacker. She made a symbol with her hands, then lashed out at the figure. The incantation coming from her mouth hadn't ceased. The figure stretched out a clawed hand to slash at her, but she ducked and pulled out a seal, sticking it on the figure's abdomen with quick precision. The figure screeched in excruciating pain and turned to white smoke a second later.

Picking up the seal that had fallen to the concrete floor and carefully placing it back into her sleeves, Kagome stood up. She patted her somewhat tattered and torn school uniform, wincing when she touched a few cuts and bruises.

She soon located her schoolbag that lay some paces off from the place of battle. Feeling weary and tired, she slowly walked out of the dark alley just to run into somebody.

Startled, she looked up, and brown eyes stared into the clear golden eyes of Inuyasha.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Weird chapter. I'm really losing it… O__o Feh, when inspiration dawns upon me, I'll try to touch it up. I know my chapters are pretty short. I can always combine two chapters into one, I guess, but then updates will take even longer~~~~ +

**Disclaimer:** (sigh) What a shame that I'm not the one who created Inuyasha, or else I'd be earning big bucks right now……..

**Chapter 3 **

They walked down the street without speaking a word to each other. Inuyasha was leading in the front. Kagome trod behind him, twiddling her fingers because she felt a bit uncomfortable about this suffocating silence. She wanted to break it, but didn't know how and dared not to. What exactly was she supposed to say if Inuyasha ask her what had happened in the alley? Would he believe her if she tells him the truth? Or would he think her deluded? Yet…he might not ask her anything at all, like he'd done up until now. 

Her right hand unconsciously travelled to the handkerchief tied on her upper left arm. Her gaze rested on Inuyasha's back for an instant before moving away, soft brown eyes turning thoughtful. 

Even though they were in the same class, she felt that she hardly knew Inuyasha at all. Her impression of him was that he was crude, loud, and didn't give a damn about what others thought of him. And he was the best friend of that lecher Miroku, which probably revealed a lot about him judging from the company he kept.

To her, he was like one of those few individuals in class that one would never really talk to all the way through high school to graduation, and left locked up in distant memory as each went his or her own way.

Their paths had never crossed before. 

She had thought that they never would. 

* * *

"Um…hello Inuyasha," she said a bit uncertainly, taking a step back away from him. 

"Kagome." He said. He stared at her.

Kagome fidgeted. She felt awkward under Inuyasha's intense gaze. Should she say something, even attempt to explain what she was doing in the alley?

"You're hurt." He stated, eyes locked on the redness seeping through her green and white school uniform.

"Oh." She looked down to see that the cut on her left arm had reopened. She fumbled around her pockets for her handkerchief, but couldn't find it. _Drat, I must have dropped it somewhere._

"Let me." A strong hand grabbed her arm and tied a blue handkerchief over her wound skillfully.

She was taken by surprise and could only look up at him with wide eyes. "Inuyasha?" 

The young man didn't respond immediately. Instead, he took over Kagome's bag and started heading down the street. "Come on, I'll walk you home."

Kagome, touched yet confused at the same time, could only follow his lead.

* * *

"Well?" A slightly irritated voice asked, waking Kagome from her trance.

"Well?" She started twiddling her fingers again.

"Aren't you going to tell me what happened to you? I figured that I should wait a bit for you to calm down. Now can you tell me who roughed you up? And what were you doing jumping up and down like a rabid monkey back there?" He had now turned around to face her, waiting expectantly and crossing his arms in a "spill-it" pose, although that proved quite difficult considering the numerous bags he had in hand.

"Rabid monkey!? How dare you! I was fighting for my dear life back there and all you can say is that I looked like a rabid monkey??" Kagome cried out incredulously, temper flaring up. "For your information, monkeys cannot be rabid. At least I think not."

"Who the hell cares whether if monkeys are rabid or not?" It was Inuyasha's turn to yell. Then he gaped at her. "Fighting for your life? I didn't see any bloody being out there that you were fighting with. There were only you moving around doing all those karate stuff."

Kagome was annoyed. "That was because…" She shut her mouth abruptly.

"Because?" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.

"Because nothing." Kagome snapped.

"Damn it, woman! Just say it!" He glared at her.

"Why should I?" She glared back.

'Because I say so."

"Well, screw you then." She wretched her bag from his hand and ran the direction of home.

Footsteps echoed behind her. She looked back to see Inuyasha persistently following her, still carrying the grocery bags while running.

"What's your problem?" She yelled, not even bothering to slow down to talk to him face to face.

"What's your problem?" He called back.

"My problem is you!" She thought she would go mad. What on earth was wrong with him, to keep on following her like that?

"I said I would walk you home!" Came the reply.

"You needn't bother. I'm really not worth your time," she commented dryly.

"Well, too bad. I say you are." He trotted behind her.

A shrine came into view after they climbed the muscle-killing steps. They were both panting and sweating profusely, ready to collapse any moment.

Kagome felt that she would either faint from fatigue or die with a burst heart. How she longed for a hot shower and her soft fluffy bed after a day's toil. She really wasn't up to dealing with that pesky Inuyasha at the moment. However nice and thoughtful he had seemed when he treated her wound before, he was now a source of annoyance with his demand to know what had happened to her.

Didn't he know not to pry into a woman's secret? He really was too pigheaded.

Eyeing him somewhat wearily, the ebony-haired young woman spoke. "Okay, now that you've seen me safely home, you can leave."

"Your family keeps a shrine?" He looked amazed.

"Yeah, we do. You can come here and pray if you want. Make some donations to God. Maybe he'll feel merciful and give you a brain."

"What was that?" Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. "You don't have to bite me every chance you get, you know. You may think me nosy, but I only want to know what happened!"

"Curiosity can kill a cat," she sighed in defeat.

"The thing is, I'm not a cat, so I won't be killed." He smirked.

"All right, if you really want to know, I'll tell you. Nobody assaulted me technically. I was…um… I was only practising my karate moves and I tripped a couple of times. It's embarrassing to let others know that." She dared not look at him, for she knew her eyes would definitely betray her. She was never good at this kind of thing.

"That's a downright lie," he growled. It seemed that he didn't even need to look at her in the eye in order to tell that she was lying. Either she was extremely terrible at it or that the silver-haired young man was smarter than the girl took him for.

"Well, lies are all you're gonna hear from me." She lifted her chin defiantly and looked challengingly at him. Suddenly, she turned and ran towards her house without even a backward glance.

Inuyasha, stupefied, could only stare open-mouthed at Kagome's receding silhouette in the setting sun.

**A/N:** Oh~~thanx to all those who read and review my stories. ^___^ I really appreciate that. Yes, tesuo, I know my ending in the other story is a bit...farfetched. -__-" I'll try to improve on my writing skills and story structure (wow! lotta work!)

Awww~~~ Cheery Wolf and Queeney~~~ don't cry~~ (hug you guys. You look at me with horror before fleeing). Ooooooops, I suppose. ^0


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Stupid school, stupid tests, stupid projects, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!!! It's a tough world…. How can I feel stressed even during the holidays!? 

**Disclaimer:** (holding tightly onto Inuyasha, crying, "Mine! Mine!" Rumiko Takahashi gives me the 'death glare.' Gulping, "Ok, yours." Inuyasha faints)

**Chapter 4**

Gosh! Inuyasha was driving her insane!!!

Every time she turned, everywhere she went, she could feel his steady gaze constantly bearing through her back, watching her, and studying her. She could almost envision him lurking in the dark corner observing her, waiting for the perfect moment when she was alone and helpless to pounce on her, like a predator bearing down on its prey… did she just hear him walking behind her? Man, she was getting paranoid.

The guy was persistent, she would give him that, but annoying nonetheless. She had tried her best to avoid and stay as far away from him as possible ever since this morning, but he always managed to intercept her when she least suspected him to appear and when she was alone even for only a minute, like now.

"I'm still waiting," he crossed his arms.

"Waiting for what?" Kagome tried to stare him down with as much hostility as she could muster.

"Waiting for your explanation." He replied flatly, not at all affected by her hostile glare. One might consider him brave to be so nonchalant about the glare that many would certainly cringe under, but his placidity probably had something to do with the fact that he was not meeting her eyes and was talking to her nose instead. Seemed like someone here already had a few unpleasant experiences with the bone-chilling glare and dared not to experience it again.

Face tight, Kagome brushed past him without a reply.

Inuyasha yelled after her, face flushing, "Running away won't help. I'm gonna haunt you until you spill the truth!"

_Why the hell won't I just give up on this?_ He thought angrily to himself, as this was about the hundredth cold shoulder that Kagome had given him today. _But I'm dying to know what had come over her last night, because I…well, not like I really care about her or anything. It's just…because! _

"Just you wait, Kagome. I'm going to pester you to no end until I can wrestle whatever you're hiding from me out of your mouth. I am a persistent guy, after all." He silently vowed to himself. 

* * *

Just as Kagome was drifting off to dream world during History class, an "unidentified flying object" hit her lightly on the head. She jerked awake. Looking around frantically, she spotted a tiny paper ball beside her foot. She made sure that the teacher wasn't looking and picked it up.

'**Tell me the truth**' was boldly imprinted on it in scrawl.

Whirling around, she caught Inuyasha sneering at her. _Bastard! _

* * *

Had people no concern for the environment and the trees? Kagome wondered as she dumped an armful of tiny slips of notes thrown to her by Inuyasha during History, Literature, and Math class onto his head. _That flipping self-centred, pesky, annoying, inconsiderate, idiotic, foolish, rude ***hole!_ The list could go on, but she didn't think the terms were appropriate for girls.

He really didn't know when to quit, did he?

* * *

Kagome bought her lunch and was about to make her way towards the roof where Yuuka and the others were waiting for her when a gruff voice sounded by her ear. "I'm still waiting for the truth." 

Inuyasha smirked and marched away.

She threw her bread at him.

* * *

At Gym, when they were running around the track, he bumped into her and whispered, "I'm waiting waiting waiting! I'm patiently~ waiting for the truth."

She stuck out her foot and tripped him. 

* * *

During chemistry class, a slightly limping Inuyasha walked up to her, was about to speak, then saw the test tubes and HCl in her hands, thought better of it, and turned.

She had a hard time keeping a straight face and not bursting out laughing during the middle of the class.

* * *

_That stupid girl!_ Inuyasha grimaced as he applied ice to his swollen ankle. He was excused from class because his ankle had really started to swell and it was last period anyway. Everything had started out with him wanting to find out what had happened and enjoying a bit of fun seeing the irritated look on her face, but now…now things were beginning to get a little violent here.

_Why can't I just let it go? _ He cursed himself, but thought that if he gave up now, his "injury" would have been wasted. A guy like him had certain pride to hold up and he would never, ever, admit that a girl like Kagome could make him back out from what he had set his mind to. Never.

"We'll see." He murmured as a flash of mischief crossed his eyes.

* * *

Kagome practically grabbed her bag and fled on the ring of the bell. Throwing a quick apology to a protesting Yuuka, she ran and picked her way through the crowd of students who were all eager to go home, although not as much enthusiasm was shown as Kagome had.

She had to get away from Inuyasha. The part about "hurting" him had been fun, but she definitely did not enjoy being harassed and pressed about the late night incident. Why couldn't the guy just pass it off as some unimportant event that had absolutely nothing to do with his life at all? It really should not concern him what she did. He was a fat lot worse than the prying neighbours. Sheesh.

Familiar scenery of the ancient shrine, the serene forest, and the house rushed up to greet her as she raced up the stone steps. There, she had made it home safe and sound, without any "pest" control problems to distract her on the way.

She happily opened the door and announced cheerfully, "Mom! I'm…"

She froze in mid-sentence and gaped with eyes huge with shock. This- could- not- be- happening---- She swore that she heard the crack as her jaw dropped to the floor.

Right there, sitting comfortably and contently in HER kitchen chair sipping tea was no one other than Inuyasha.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Yippee!!! No more ISU, no more presentations, no more exams! I am finally FREE~~~ (dancing) Guess it's time for me to pick up the pen again (more like getting in front of the keyboard) and continue on with my story. ^__^" By the way, sorry for taking so long to update.......+

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inuyasha, but I'll start my own anime series someday. Just you wait.

**Chapter 5******

The shrine stood in the afternoon sunshine, calm and unmoving, amidst the ancient forest. It stood there on the very top of the hill overlooking the entire city as if guarding it like a soldier on a watchtower. Unlike some other lavishly furnished shrines that only radiated of rich material grandeur and nothing more, the Higurashi shrine was solemn, humble, and adorned a seasoned look that only a shrine with true history could have. The quiet and reserved atmosphere within the building was really where true faith and spiritual relief could be found.

A little distance away to the back of the shrine, located near the lush forest, was a small storage house built of wood. It was normally locked up to protect its contents from wandering wild animals looking for a shelter and unwanted visitors of the night, but was opened and cleaned every three months by the family.

Kagome took out an old metal key and inserted it into the heavy iron lock. The device gave a low grunt before it clicked open, granting the girl passage into the storage room. Inuyasha followed inside.

After telling Inuyasha to close the door, Kagome touched and fumbled for the switch.

Warm yellow light soon illuminated the room from the centre.

Inuyasha gasped in awe. He was totally astounded by what he was seeing in the room. All the items on display and on the shelves could certainly be identified as valuable antiques that all museums and famous collectors would die to get their hands on. The ambience of the room was that of the old and the sacred.

He held his breath. It felt as if he had just intruded a blessed space where one must not disrespect the ancient, the sacred, and the unseen… Each item seemed to be emitting a certain power, silently humming in the ears of only those who were meant to possess it.

"What…what is this place?" Inuyasha wondered.

"This place, used to be the old Higurashi altar." Kagome quietly stated. "Ever since the ancient times, people have been bringing in family items to the shrine, asking the priest or the priestess to keep it here and bless it, for certain objects, especially ones that are passed down through generation, tend to absorb more emotions. Some negative energy has been channelled into the artifacts through the person who previously possessed them or through tragedies that revolved around them. They are placed in the shrine to be cleansed by the sacred spiritual energy in the place. These artifacts that you see here, are the ones that have been brought in long long time ago and have been purified of evil and hatred. Since those who brought them in are dead and their heirs fail to come claim them, they remain here to be guarded and protected."

"Cool!" Inuyasha looked around, still in absolute amazement. Then he turned to Kagome abruptly, seeming a bit confused. "But why did you bring me here?"

"I brought you here because this is the least likely place to be intruded by outside interference." She held his eyes.

"Ok…if you say so…" Not quite sure of what exactly she meant by that, Inuyasha decided to pass it off. She couldn't possibly consider murdering him here, could she? He shivered thinking of what happened not long before. Damn, how did it get so cold all of a sudden?

A moment of silence followed. Kagome contemplated on how she would start with her story, or 'situation,' more likely. She sighed inwardly. She had never thought that she would give in to Inuyasha's persistence, but when she saw him in her kitchen, something inside her head simply snapped. She vaguely recalled throwing whatever she could find at him, which included her bag, chairs, dishes, bottles, cans, forks, and even her cat Buyo (A/N: oh~the poor thing ~_~). She was going to reach for the knives too, but her mom managed to stop and calm her down in time before she pierced the cowering Inuyasha into a thousand pieces.

She vowed that she'd never ever want to cross path with him again. Never! She had enough of his provocation, his pestering, his…stalking! If this could make him leave her alone, then she would tell him. It didn't matter whether he believes her or not, or if he would laugh right in her face calling her a lunatic, just as long as she could get him out of her life. She wanted to have her normal, okay, maybe not so normal, but old life back, before Inuyasha started trying to play a part in it. The thing was, how and where should she start?

"I…" Kagome suddenly found her throat dry.

"Yes?" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.

"This piece of jewelry here dates back to the Feudal era of Japan, which is more than 500 years ago. It has gone through the hands of many priests and priestesses who tried to guard it before ending up here on this shrine." Kagome pointed to a necklace and started lecturing about its history.

Inuyasha gave her an odd look before diverting his attention to the necklace. "Nice."

"Ok, that was….not what I was trying to say." Kagome gulped.

"Um hum…" Inuyasha looked at her expectantly.

"What I was going to say was--" Kagome couldn't continue. "Oh, that Japanese sword beside you is said to belong to a very powerful lord in the old time, although its true history is lost today. It appears to be a fine sword, doesn't it?"

Inuyasha briefly glimpsed at the sword without much interest. "I guess it does." 

"Err…." Kagome began to find the floor very interesting.

Inuyasha scowled.

Having fought another round of internal battle, Kagome finally looked up decisively, her mind made up that she would tell whatever it was without any more delay.

Before she had a chance to open her mouth, Inuyasha commented dryly, "I suppose you would like to talk about that beautiful delicate vase over there as well?"

Kagome flushed red as a beet from head to toe. How she wished for a hole in the ground at this instant for her to hide in! "No, I don't wish to talk about the vase." She mumbled.

Inuyasha snorted.

"The thing that I want to tell you about is," Breathing deeply, Kagome looked him in the eye. "I can see ghosts."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Second semester is living hell…. And I sort of bombed my physics exam, which is bad too. XP This draws me to a conclusion, school and I don't really go together. 

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha is not mine. Darn! 

**Chapter 6**

"I'm sorry?"

"I can see ghosts." Kagome said.

Inuyasha stared at her. He blinked. "Come again?"

"I can see ghosts," the girl standing in front of him firmly restated.

"Pardon –"

"I SAID I CAN SEE GHOSTS!!!" Kagome repeated, adding a lot of emphasis to the phrase.

Inuyasha continued staring at her, blinking rapidly. Suddenly, he burst out laughing. "You can see ghosts? Yeah right! And I conduct séance during my spare time! Haha~ You really are something, Kagome, you know that? You almost had me for a moment there with that serious look on your face. Good one!" He doubled over, wiping away tears of laugher from the corner of his eyes at the same time.

Lips tight, Kagome put her hands on her hips and frowned at the figure rolling on the floor howling with derisive laughter.

She DID NOT like being laughed at, especially by an immature jerk such as Inuyasha, although this was an anticipated reaction the moment she decided to reveal her secret to him. Well, she supposed that it was a good thing that he did not believe her at all, as there would certainly be a whole lot more trouble if he did. Anyways, now that she had let the guy in on the big joke, it was time to kick him out.

"Are you done yet?" She snapped.

Noticing the icy tone in her voice, the silver-haired young man got up and dusted off his clothes, still chuckling with mirth. "Man, that was a good laugh."

"Just to let you know, I wasn't joking when I said that." Kagome replied coolly.

"You can't be serious!" Inuyasha exclaimed, eyes widening. "There's no such thing as ghosts in this world. How do you expect me to believe in something that even a three-year-old would laugh at?"

Sighing heavily, a look of weariness appeared on Kagome's face. She rubbed her temple, "No, I don't expect you to believe me. I wouldn't have believed this myself if I were you, but the thing is, I'm not you and I see things that normal people can't see."

She saw the disbelief and doubt clearly in Inuyasha's eyes. Smiling bitterly, she continued, "This is not the first time that I've told someone that I can see ghosts and I always get the same reaction as the one from you, so I guess you can say that I'm used to being ridiculed. Anyhow, can you leave me alone now? I don't think I ever want to see your face again."

"But you haven't told me what exactly happened –" Inuyasha began to protest.

"JUST THINK THAT I HAVE PROBLEMS, OK?" Kagome practically shouted at him. "Consider that I was suddenly overcome with my mental illness that night and started mimicking all those action movie stunts, all right? I've lost my mind; I am crazy; I think I can see ghosts, are you happy!?" Her cheeks flushed with anger and she panted heavily from all the screaming. Turning her back to him, she said in an almost pleading voice, "Just…leave it, ok?"

"Ok, ok! Chill, Kagome." A bewildered Inuyasha put up his hands. 

Had he gone too far? He didn't think that Kagome would be this humiliated. Perhaps he really shouldn't have laughed so loudly or acted so rude. Should he try and apologize? A pang of guilt was beginning to build in his chest. Maybe he should tell her that he was sorry for prying too far. Wait a minute, even though he laughed at her, but she yelled at him too. Wouldn't that make them even? Ok, so he was the cause of her anger and the yelling, but still…

While Inuyasha was still standing there trying to justify the reason why he should "not" apologize, Kagome on the other hand was fed up with his presence already.

Whirling around, she threw him a venomous glare that looked as deadly as if a thousand sharp knives were flying towards him. "Inuyasha," she drew out softly, yet dangerously, "Get out."

"Huh?" Breaking out of his inner battle, Inuyasha looked up and had to gulp hard. He most definitely did not like the way Kagome was looking at him. It made the hair at the back of his neck stand on ends. "Err.. Kagome, just relax."

"You have 5 seconds to leave and don't you dare speak a word of this to anyone," Kagome warned while taking a step closer, like a predator bearing down on its prey. "You wouldn't want to find out how skilled in weaponry a child growing up on a shrine is trained, would you?"

_Dear God, what have I done to deserve this?_ A voice in Inuyasha's mind inquired.

_You've done everything to bring this upon yourself._ Another voice inside his head snickered.

_Shut up!_ The first voice hissed.

Realizing that Kagome was drawing closer, Inuyasha quickly backed away from her. Now was a good time to run for his dear life, it seemed.

DONG! Something dropped behind him.

He turned and saw that he had accidentally knocked over a sword stand and the Japanese sword it held onto the floor. "Oops…"

If he remembered correctly, this was the same sword that Kagome had pointed to earlier on; a valuable possession of some ancient lord in the distant past. Crap, if it got damaged, there was no way he could pay for it.

He hastily picked it up and righted the sword stand, before the girl in a murderous mood behind him decides to test out the sword edge on him.

"Ahhh!!!"

Blinding golden white light exploded from the hilt of the old sword the moment Inuyasha grabbed it. It felt as if jolts of electric currents were running from the material into his fingers.

Shielding his eyes against the penetrating light and being shocked by the strange sensation, he dropped the sword in the process. Instead of bending down to pick it up again, he barged out of the little room and fled.

Kagome stared after him in surprise, her anger evaporated due to the unexpected event. "What in the world…?"

She bent down and picked up the sword, unsheathed it. The metal gleamed slightly under the dim yellow light. Nothing happened. "Strange…" She commented after carefully sheathing the sword and placing it back to where it belonged.

Rubbing her chin thoughtfully, she decided that it was perhaps time for another history lesson from her grandpa. It was her turn to uncover a mystery.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** I don't believe this! Just when I've finally found time to continue with the story and I get writer's block!? Not fair! (wailing) I'm probably suffering from accumulated fatigue and stress, because I keep on dozing off while writing this chapter. Or maybe because it's a boring chapter…? 

**_To whiterose03:_** yeah, sometimes I can't help but wonder if there's some type of conspiracy against the students going on among the teachers, because they sure make life a living hell. If you do mention my story and recommend it for others to check out, I'd really appreciate it. ^___^ Oh, and thanks for the reviews too! (hug hug)

No!! I've just scared away another reader……..___

Although I don't really get a lot of reviews, I'll still try to continue with the story, simply because. @__@ (like that makes a lot of sense) Anyways, I still thank all those who has read my story or reviewed it. Love ya all! (No! I don't mean it THAT way. Don't flee!)

**Disclaimer:** (Biting my handkerchief, tears welling) Inuyasha, why aren't you mine? Oh, life is simply too sad to bear….

**Chapter 7**

The silver-haired teen raced down the flight of stone steps without a glance back at the shrine. He did not care about what Kagome would think of him for fleeing like a frightened dog or about the possibility that he might trip and tumble the long way down and break his neck for running recklessly downward. All he could think of at the moment was to get as far away from the place as possible.

He continued running even after he reached the streets. Rounding the corner and passing a few blocks, he finally slowed down to a halt and bent down, hands on his knees, to catch his breath.

"What the hell WAS that?" He managed to wonder out loud as soon as his breathing eased to normal.

Raising his right hand that had held the sword not long before, he inspected it carefully against the receding twilight. Nothing looked out of place. His skin colour looked normal, his fingers were still intact, and nothing abnormal had protruded out of his flesh. He wasn't harmed or affected in any way. Well, perhaps emotionally affected, but not physically.

What exactly happened back there in that storage house?

How could a sword emit such strong light and send that strange current all the way from his fingertips down to his spine just from a mere touch? What did he do to it? No, he didn't do anything.

Could it have been a magic trick of some sort set up to give him a scare? Yeah right, like Kagome could predict that he would knock the thing over by accident. Plus, shrine keepers would never mess around with guarded artifacts, let alone using one to play a trick. 

Maybe there were electric currents flowing through the sword and he had gotten electrocuted…? Even he knew that way too far-fetched.

Then what?

The things that Kagome had said to him when showing him around popped into his head. She had mentioned something about the ancient artifacts containing a certain power… So maybe that sword had some kind of special power locked up within it and was released when he held it? SAY WHAT!? He shook his head vigorously, causing his silver locks to fling about. What the heck was he thinking? That stuff was a load of gibberish. He **would not** and **refused** to think and believe that. This was a scientific world. There were no such things as special powers……

'I can see ghosts.' Kagome's voice echoed in the back of his mind. Ghosts? Spiritual energy and spiritual powers? He started banging his head against the lamppost by the side of the street.

Kagome's madness was rubbing off on him! He simply couldn't get this ghost/spiritual power stuff out of his head and away from his train of thoughts. Ghosts did not exist in this world!!! When people die, they die. Their brain simply stopped working. The end. There were no soul or spirit that reside within the body. It was those little neural cells that did all the thinking and the work. Science could explain everything.

"Ghosts my foot. Science rule," Inuyasha mumbled to himself as he started to head home, staggering, feeling dazed from his previous head banging.

"Ouch!" He fell and rubbed his head as he ran into another lamppost. He really, really should not have banged his head that hard earlier on, because he could hardly walk in a straight line afterwards, which caused him to run into this lamppost right in front of him. "Shoot…"

He slowly got up and started to dust himself off. He froze midway and looked up. 

The street was empty. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Nothing had changed. He shook his head to clear it up, because for a moment there, he had the impression of having a person standing right in front of him.

_Note to self, never bang your head again no matter what happens._ Inuyasha rubbed the bump that had begun to form on his forehead and continued his way home.

* * *

"The next thing you know, ET is your next door neighbour." Inuyasha sighed to himself as he once again thought of how ridiculous the idea of ghosts was.

He was on his way to school, but his thoughts still circled around the event from the previous day. It simply haunted him like a phantom and would not leave him alone for a moment. Every time he tried to distract himself from thinking too much, he found his thoughts falling back to the same topic.

Only God knew how frustrating it was. No one would have any idea how much restraint he had to put on himself yesterday in order not to pull off all his hair out of frustration. Really, why the hell was he so frustrated anyways…?

"Ouch!" He broke away from his thoughts as a hard heavy object hit him squarely in the back of his head. "What the f - " He swirled around to give whoever did it a piece of his mind but stopped in mid-sentence as yet another blue object hit him in the face. However, this time it was soft.

"Here's your stupid bag and your stupid handkerchief." Kagome told him coldly.

Peeling the handkerchief off of his face, Inuyasha looked down. Lying by his feet was none other than his beloved black leather schoolbag, also the tool of "attempted murder" for hitting his head.

As for the handkerchief, he recognized it as the one he tied around Kagome's wound from the night before.

Should he thank her for returning his personal belongings? Like in hell that would ever happen. She tried to kill him with his own bag!!!

Kagome regarded him with a strange look. "You forgot your bag at my house yesterday. Didn't you notice anything missing while walking to school this morning?"

Inuyasha looked at her blankly. "No."

The girl almost fell over. This guy was way too slow. His skull must be too thick that there was no room left for his brain.

"How can you go to school without your bag and books?"

"Oh yeah…" The look of revelation dawned upon the teen boy's expression.

Kagome rolled her eyes and walked past him without saying another word. This was the guy who competed with her for the top in class? Seemed highly unlikely.

Inuyasha remained where he was for a minute, staring at Kagome's back as she walked away. Then he realized that he would be late soon if he did not get going. He picked up his bag and took a step.

He stopped. He listened intently but all was quiet except for the occasionally traffic.

Odd.

He thought that he heard somebody singing softly beside him, but there wasn't anyone around.

Sticking a finger into his ear to clean it, he decided that he was probably hallucinating due to a possible brain damage (from yesterday and today). He resumed his walk to school.


End file.
